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Elon Musk Doesn't Know He's on the Wrong Side of George Orwell
The level of power and influence the world's richest man has amassed is a danger to all citizens, whether they like Musk or not. It is also, without a shadow of a doubt, a threat to democracy.
Aug 21, 2024
The following is the English translation of an essay that first appeared in the Swedish publication Dagens ETC and appears at Common Dreams with permission from the author.
Elon Musk is perhaps one of the purest examples in recent years of the conversion of raw economic power into informational, social, and political power. What makes Musk such a dangerous figure is those various forms of power combined with his willingness to openly lie about his personal and corporate relationships to issues of free speech and democracy.
The level of power and influence he has amassed is a danger to all citizens, whether they like Musk or not. It is also, without a shadow of a doubt, a threat to democracy.
After the riots that broke out in the UK following the murder of three young children in the town of Southport, a number of social media users were arrested and charged in relation to those riots. Musk amplified tweets that claimed the use of the law in this manner was “Orwellian.” In other words, a repressive state was cracking down on citizens for little more than expressing their opinions or thinking in the wrong way. But that argument hid the fact that many of those arrested were charged under UK law with inciting both violence and racial hatred: forms of speech rightly illegal in many countries.
Nevertheless, in “1984” terms Musk pitched himself as standing alongside the Winston Smiths of this world in battle against the Big Brothers. As the defender of the rights of the “ordinary person” in the face of a violent, elite, repressive machine.
You could cut the irony with a knife.
Musk’s rhetoric on free speech and democracy, and the willingness of so many of his followers to accept that rhetoric despite the obvious contradictions, is a perfect example of “doublethink.”
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, bought a communication platform that enables him to control information and messaging across the globe. With that platform he also gathers huge amounts of data on users. He uses his position to advocate for political candidates and political agendas he supports and cooperates with various authoritarian regimes to shut down messages and accounts critical of their power. His company literally pays individuals whose accounts spread and amplify proven disinformation, and has himself spread and amplified proven disinformation. He throttled access to news outlets he disagreed with. He threatened to sue individuals and organizations that have been nothing more than critical of his own communication platform and other business dealings. When advertisers decide that they no longer wish to spend money on his platform because of increasing levels of disinformation and hate speech, he threatened to sue them as well.
There is something Orwellian going on here, but not in the way Musk claims.
In “1984” Orwell came up with the term “doublethink” to refer to how the exercise of pure authoritarian power includes getting people to believe two things at the same time, even if those two things are in direct contradiction. The most classic examples from the book being the expressions War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength.
Musk’s rhetoric on free speech and democracy, and the willingness of so many of his followers to accept that rhetoric despite the obvious contradictions, is a perfect example of “doublethink.”
With Musk, we see enormous economic, informational and political power in the hands of the richest man in the world. There is no rational argument for how such a situation cannot and will not damage informed citizenship and democracy in the long run.
Musk is the defender of free speech and democracy who censors opponents of authoritarian regimes. Musk is the advocate of free and open debate who sues people who criticize his platform. Musk is the lover of the free market who threatens to take advertisers who won’t give him money to court. Musk is the defender of workers who actively fights organized labor.
As an academic, I realize that my criticism of Musk will likely be dismissed along ideological grounds. But I can tell you that academics have been warning about the dangers of excessive concentration of private and corporate mainstream media ownership for decades, and that criticism was in relation to all media, including mainstream outlets people call “left-wing.” We warned that power would continue to concentrate and that the damage to democracy could be severe. Yet, when we made those warnings, mainstream journalists, editors and owners largely dismissed them as out of touch and irrelevant. What do academics know of the real world?
Well, here we are now with Musk.
With Musk, we see enormous economic, informational and political power in the hands of the richest man in the world. There is no rational argument for how such a situation cannot and will not damage informed citizenship and democracy in the long run. By his actions Musk has shown no indication that he has no real interest in freedom of speech or ordinary working people. This should be of grave concern to all citizens regardless of their political inclination.
Orwell, a social democrat, was ahead of his time in anticipating the use of technology in surveillance and disinformation in the service of power. Musk is right that Orwell is relevant to today’s society. He’s just wrong about what side of the fight he is on.
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Fossil Fuel Industry Propaganda Blamed as Record Heat Scorches Planet
"We need to tackle the root cause and get serious about reducing record levels of greenhouse gas emissions," said the head of the World Meteorological Organization.
Aug 08, 2024
As scientists around the world on Thursday released new data about recent record-smashing heat, one United Nations adviser placed blame for the lack of ambitious climate action on the fossil fuel industry's decadeslong disinformation efforts.
"There is this prevailing narrative—and a lot of it is being pushed by the fossil fuel industry and their enablers—that climate action is too difficult, it's too expensive," Selwin Hart, a special adviser to the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and assistant secretary-general of the Climate Action Team, toldThe Guardian's Fiona Harvey.
"It is absolutely critical that leaders, and all of us, push back and explain to people the value of climate action, but also the consequences of climate inaction," said Hart, former executive director of the Caribbean at the Inter-American Development Bank and Barbados' ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States.
Investigations by academics, journalists, and lawmakers as well as ongoing legal battles have exposed how Big Oil not only has heated and polluted the planet but also knew about the devastating impacts of fossil fuels decades ago and opted to spread lies so shareholders could make massive profits—which they continue to rake in today.
"Climate appears to be dropping down the list of priorities of leaders," Hart said, pointing to polling that shows people around the world want a rapid transition to clean energy. "But we really need leaders now to deliver maximum ambition. And we need maximum cooperation. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that at the moment."
According to The Guardian:
[Hart] warned that the consequences of inaction were being felt in rich countries as well as poor. In the U.S., many thousands of people are finding it increasingly impossible to insure their homes, as extreme weather worsens. "This is directly due to the climate crisis, and directly due to the use of fossil fuels," he said. "Ordinary people are having to pay the price of a climate crisis while the fossil fuel industry continues to reap excess profits and still receives massive government subsidies."
Yet the world has never been better equipped to tackle climate breakdown, Hart added. "Renewables are the cheapest they've ever been, the pace of the energy transition is accelerating," he said.
Hart's comments came as the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced that last month "was the second-warmest July globally in our data record, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 16.91ºC," or 62.44ºF.
From June 2023 to June 2024, each month was the hottest on record, according to C3S. Samantha Burgess, the agency's deputy director, noted that now, "the streak of record-breaking months has come to an end, but only by a whisker."
"Globally, July 2024 was almost as warm as July 2023, the hottest month on record," Burgess stressed. "July 2024 saw the two hottest days on record. The overall context hasn't changed, our climate continues to warm. The devastating effects of climate change started well before 2023 and will continue until global greenhouse gas emissions reach net-zero."
The U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Thursday that the new C3S data "underlines the urgency of the Call to Action on Extreme Heat" issued by Guterres last month, shortly after July 22 became the hottest day ever recorded.
"Widespread, intense, and extended heatwaves have hit every continent in the past year," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo in a statement. "At least 10 countries have recorded daily temperatures of more than 50ºC in more than one location. This is becoming too hot to handle."
Saulo highlighted that "Death Valley in California registered a record average monthly temperature of 42.5ºC (108.5ºF)—possibly a new record observed for anywhere in the world. Even the remote frozen ice sheets of Antarctica have been feeling the heat."
"The WMO community is committed to responding to the U.N. secretary-general's Call to Action with better heat-health early warnings and action plans," she pledged. "Recent estimates produced by WMO and the World Health Organization indicate that the global scale-up of heat-health warning systems for 57 countries alone has the potential to save an estimated 98,000 lives per year. This is one of the priorities of the Early Warnings for All initiative."
"Climate adaptation alone is not enough," she added. "We need to tackle the root cause and get serious about reducing record levels of greenhouse gas emissions."
C3S wasn't alone in releasing new data on Thursday; the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also shared some key points for the country's climate in July, with the full report set to be released on Tuesday.
NOAA's top takeaways were:
- The average temperature of the contiguous U.S. in July was 75.7ºF, 2.1ºF above average, ranking 11th warmest in the 130-year record.
- The Park Fire is the fourth-largest wildfire in California history as of August 6; beginning on July 24, it burned approximately 401,000 acres and destroyed over 560 structures.
- On July 15, a derecho that spawned 32 tornadoes broke the Chicago-area record for most tornadoes in a day.
- On July 1, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane and the second Category 5 on record during the month of July in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Alaska had its wettest July on record.
- Four new billion-dollar weather and climate disasters were confirmed in July. The year-to-date total currently stands at 19 disasters.
Other major events in July included California's Thompson Fire, which forced over 13,000 people to evacuate, and Washington, D.C. enduring 101ºF on July 17, tying a record for the longest streak of temperatures above 100ºF. NOAA also found that "for the January-July period, the average contiguous U.S. temperature was 54.5ºF, 3.2ºF above average, ranking second-warmest on record."
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Misinformation After Trump Assassination Attempt Shows the US Needs Media Reform
In the immediate aftermath of the attempt to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump, social media became a cesspool of conspiracy theories and an amplifier of partisan propaganda.
Jul 21, 2024
At a time of political turmoil and uncertainty about mainstream news coverage, more Americans are turning to social media for the information they need to understand current events. But once there, they’re met with a slew of lies, making it difficult to separate fiction from the facts people need to participate in civic society.
In the immediate aftermath of the attempt to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump, social media became a cesspool of conspiracy theories and an amplifier of partisan propaganda as Trump supporters and trolls exploited the violence to deepen political divides and sow chaos. Meanwhile, so many on the left went online to claim that the entire incident was fabricated that tens of millions of people saw Twitter posts containing the hashtag “#staged.”
So where should people go to get the accurate news and information they need to engage in the democratic process during a contentious election year?
Nationwide, more people understand the shortcomings of the existing media environment and support the changes needed to fix it.Nationwide, more people understand the shortcomings of the existing media environment and support the changes needed to fix it.
The answer isn’t simple, but it’s clear that the status quo isn’t working. According to a recent Free Press Action poll, nearly 3 out of every 4 Americans say they don’t feel “very well informed” when voting in local elections.
The poll results strongly suggest that both old and new media are in need of a shake-up in advance of November.
The poll surveyed 3,000 people from across the country, and respondents relayed their concerns about the twin problems of dwindling local news coverage and the prevalence of false information online. Almost 80% said they were concerned that the information they see online is false, fake, or a deliberate attempt to confuse. A majority of people across the country believe that having more independent news outlets could safeguard against disinformation and strengthen our democracy. They support increasing public funding to create and expand local and independent news.
In statehouses across the country, lawmakers are weighing legislation to address the crisis in local journalism. One such proposal in California (SB 1327) would impose a fee on major tech platforms to help support the production of local news. The estimated $500 million this fee would generate would provide outlets with an employment tax credit to cover a portion of employees’ wages. SB 1327 passed the state Senate in June and is expected before the state Assembly in August. Bill champions are still working to gather support for the legislation as it moves closer to passage.
In 2018, New Jersey established the Civic Information Consortium and provided it with the state funding necessary to distribute millions of dollars in grants to community outlets working to engage people in civic affairs.
Measures like these are a good start. Over the past two decades, the country has lost nearly 60% of local-newspaper reporters. Instead of filling that void, social media has stuffed it full of high-engagement content that often spreads falsehoods and conspiracy theories instead of informing people about local issues.
And it’s not just public policy that’s needed. In response to concerns about the spread of disinformation, Free Press joined with 200 other civil society groups to demand that social media platforms strengthen election-integrity efforts. We’ve asked the likes of Google, Meta, and X to reinstate election-integrity policies and staff up critical trust and safety teams to better enforce policies across languages.
According to our poll, the vast majority of Americans across racial, ethnic, and political lines—including two-thirds of independents and GOP voters—want these companies to prevent the spread of misinformation online.
At a time of extreme and heated partisan divides, the poll reveals a silver lining: Nationwide, more people understand the shortcomings of the existing media environment and support the changes needed to fix it.
The challenge before people everywhere is to mobilize behind efforts to compel popular media—both traditional and online—to engage with and be more responsive to the needs of their readers and viewers.
There’s no doubt that this is a hard moment in U.S. history, that tensions are high, that divisions run hot. The media too often play a role in stoking those flames. But people from across the political spectrum are telling us that they’re ready for a change, and today I feel hopeful that we can work together to build a media system that supports full democratic participation.
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